Mrs. Laura Jackman, Grade 1 and 2 teacher at Rossland Summit School, and her students received permission to paint the storm drains near Jubilee Wetland with yellow fish at Monday night’s council meeting. (Chelsea Novak/Rossland News)

Construction on Spokane Street and Leroi Avenue is expected to begin within the next couple of weeks.

The contract for the Spokane Street and Leroi Avenue Infrastructure project has been awarded to Copcan Civil Ltd., with project administration by ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd.

Construction will take place on Spokane Street between Second and Columbia avenues and between Columbia and Leroi avenues, on First Avenue between Spokane and Washington streets, on Leroi Avenue between Davies and Spokane streets, and on Davies Street between Leroi and Kootenay avenues.

Council approves Jubilee Wetland projects

Rossland City Council approved two requests regarding the Jubilee Wetland at Monday night’s council meeting.

Mrs. Laura Jackman, Grade 1 and 2 teacher at Rossland Summit School (RSS), requested permission from council to install a shed for storing wetland educational tools at the Jubilee Wetland. The shed was built by woodworking students at Stanley Humphries Secondary School in Castlegar and will be placed on city property in the wetland.

“I wanted to to not just be an RSS initiative, so that’s why it’s not on RSS property,” Jackman told council. “I loved the idea of having it right out there, at the wetland. … I would love for it to have a combination lock on it and for it to be open for the community to use.”

Council also gave Jackman’s students permission to paint yellow fish on the storm drains uphill from Jubilee Wetland. The fish are meant to remind people to be aware of what goes down the storm drain.

Council approves FAN sponsorship

Council approved a $500 sponsorship for the Family Action Network (FAN).

Christy Anderson and Sonia Tavares from FAN made a request to council at the last regular meeting on April 24.

“What that helps us to do is to continue to reduce the rate of children entering our kindergarten with challenges through this Ages and Stages program that we’re putting together. It helps us to leverage new funding,” explained Anderson, when making the ask.

In the future, council would like FAN to request funding through the Grant in Aid program.

Council looking into review of design guidelines

In response to a request from the city’s design review panel to have the design guidelines reviewed, council asked staff to look into the cost of hiring an outside consultant to conduct the design review.

The committee also recommended removing signage from the Development Permit guidelines and instead addressing signage in a bylaw. Council instructed staff to draft such a bylaw.